A leitz can't be helped by words—only by suffering. The Mesilas Yesharim teaches that someone who doesn't take anything seriously won't be moved by mussar, by advice, by gentle correction. It slides…
Yeshayahu HaNavi screamed at people who turned everything into a joke because they wouldn't listen to the prophets' rebuke. The Mesilas Yesharim explains that the purpose of a navi is to set people…
A joke says, "This doesn't matter." The Mesilas Yesharim teaches that leitzonus throws any topic into the dirt, regardless of how important it actually is. The nature of a joke is to take something…
Ancient warriors coated their shields with oil so arrows would slip off without leaving a mark. The Mesilas Yesharim uses this mashal to explain leitzonus: when you make a joke out of something…
If you don't take life seriously, life will eventually force you to—and it won't be gentle. The Mesilas Yesharim reveals that people who live as if everything's a joke are running from reality, scared…
A little joke can lead straight to gilui arayos. The Mesilas Yesharim quotes the Mishnah in Avos: frivolity and lightheartedness are the gateway to one of the worst aveiros imaginable. How is that…
Being a leitz is one of the biggest insults you can give someone—it means nothing in life is important to you. The Mesilas Yesharim compares a leitz to someone who's drunk or a shoteh: they're always…
Being stuck in gashmiyus is the easy nisayon—but there's a harder one. The Mesilas Yesharim reveals that the second major obstacle to zerizus is schok and kalos rosh, joking around all the time. Why…
Time is the one commodity you can never get back. The Mesilas Yesharim teaches that if you're smart, you won't waste a second. Don't lose out on time—it's so precious. Use it to serve Hashem better,…
Rosh Hashanah is coming, and you're going to stand before Hashem asking for life—but what are you going to do with it? The Mesilas Yesharim demands that you take a cheshbon hanefesh, especially now in…
